Origins of Australian Rules Football

The origins of Australian rules football ("Aussie Rules") are obscure and still the subject of much debate.

The earliest accounts of "foot-ball" games in Australia date back to July 1829 and the earliest accounts of clubs formed to play football date to the late 1850s. On the Victorian goldfields, men from across the world brought their own ideas of football rules, and their games were played by a variety of rules, sometimes agreed at the beginning, others applied where there was contention. Though football became increasingly common between 1856 and 1858, written details are difficult to find as most of these matches were poorly documented.

There are theories that the game has pre-1858 origins, the predominant ones include;

a) origination from early Irish games such as caid, an ancestor of Gaelic football brought to Australia by migrants;

b) origination from English public school football games, particularly early forms of rugby football;

c) inspiration from traditional indigenous Australian pastimes, such as the ball game marn grook;

d) influence from some or all of the above, these multiple influences a consequence of diverse historical circumstances.

Most modern historians generally recognise that the first football identifiable as Australian rules football was organised in Melbourne in 1858. Thomas Wentworth Wills, sometimes described as the game's inventor, was one of the umpires at a match between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School in the Richmond Paddock. Played as a 40 per side contest, the game is claimed by some as the first match of Australian football. Wills had previously published letters calling for the formation of football clubs in a bid to keep cricketers fit during the winter months. Wills had attended Rugby school and played an early version of rugby football.

It was not until 1859 that the first known laws of the game were published by the Melbourne Football Club.

The AFL Commission, the game's current governing body, officially acknowledges the following with regards to the formation of Australian Football:

a) that 1858 was the commencement date

b) that the game was invented in Melbourne

In its official account of the game's history for its 150th celebrations, however the AFL downgraded Wills and H. C. A. Harrison as the fathers of Australian football, and does not recognise any connection to traditional indigenous games. This stance was not without controversy.